In a generic roller tappet disclosed in DE 32 47 026 A1, a roller is seated in a cylindrical pocket of a drive side of a housing. For retention of the roller, the housing projects with its drive side front end beyond half the height of the roller which is received in a bridge member integrally connected to the housing. Axial securing of the roller is realized through separate pins.
A drawback of the aforesaid roller is that, for a mass production, it can be made only by a complex fabrication method. This requires, for example, an extremely close tolerance in the retention region of the roller. Moreover, angular deviations of the surrounding structure have a detrimental effect so that friction-raising “edge loading” has to be reckoned with, or very close tolerances have likewise to be observed in this section. In addition, it is noted that the roller tappet has an unnecessary solid configuration.